Penetrating oils



Eatented Dec. 20, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE No Drawing.Application December 12, 1946, Serial No. 715,623

6 Claims. (Cl. 252-59) This invention relates to lubricating materialsand more specifically to penetrating oils containing a liquid derivedfrom citrus fruit.

It is an object of this invention to provide novel penetrating oilscontaining materials derived from citrus fruit.

After oranges, lemons, grapefruit and other citrus fruit have beensqueezed to extract their juice, the remaining pulp, skin and peel isprocessed to obtain a citrus peel oil, generally about 90% of which is asubstance known as dextrolimonene or d-limonene which has a chemicalformula of ClOHlS. This material is also variously known as citrene,carvene or hesperidene. Throughout the specification and claims the term"dextrolimonene will be used to cover both the pure product CIOHIS knownby all of these names and also the combination of this product withother materials usually found in citrus oils.

Dextrolimonene has been used for some time in the making of perfumes andflavoring extracts as it is a good solvent for the essences usedtherein. It has not, however, been used in the making of penetratingoils.

It is another object of this invention to provide novel penetrating oilscontaining dextrolimonene.

The present invention is based on the discovery that dextrolimonene whenmixed with certain natural oils and waxes, such as liquid or solidpetroleum products, castor oil and other organic fats and oils, producesa penetrating oil for loosening bolts, locks, nuts, many frozenbearings, leaf springs, etc. which is superior to any so far known.Dextrolimonene is itself not a good lubricant since it is highlyvolatile but when mixed with a lubricant it forms therewith a splendidpenetrating oil. As a special case, dextrolimonene alone may be used asa penetrating oil where the member on which it is used (lock or bolt,for example) has some lubricant on it.

Dextrolimonene will dissolve, at ordinary temperatures, parafiin andother petroleum products and hence the lubricant can be either solid orliquid. Three examples of suitable mixtures are given below but it is tobe understood that the invention is not limited to these specificexamples but only as recited in the claims. In all the examples, thematerials are mixed at room temperature. The examples follow:

Example I Per cent by weight Parafiin 0.2523 Dextrolimonene 7799.75

A mixture comprising 3% parafiin and 97% dextrolimonene has been foundvery satisfactory.

2 Example II Per cent by weight Liquid petroleum oil #30 SAE' .a 025-25Dextrolimonene -9975 A mixture comprising 10% of #30 oil anddextrolimonene has been found very satisfactory.

Ewample III Per cent by weight Castor oil 0.25-15 Dextrolimonene 85-9975In general, the amount of dextrolimonene varies from about 75% toalmost, if not entirely (as in the special case mentioned above), Below75% dextrolimonene content the mixture is not very efiicient as apenetrating oil and when the dextrolimonene content closely approaches100% the mixture is so highly volatile that it is not very practicalunless used immediately or kept tightly capped.

Mixtures in accordance with all of the examples given above, as well asmany others, have been made and the penetrating oils formed were foundto be of very high quality.

What is claimed is:

1. A penetrating oil comprising a mixture of 75% to 99.75% by weight ofcitrus peel oil and 0.25% to 25% of a lubricant of the groupconsistingof paraflin, liquid petroleum oil and castor oil.

2. A penetrating oil comprising a mixture of 75% to 99.75% by weight ofdextrolimonene and 0.25% to 25% of alubricant of the group consisting ofparaflin, liquid petroleum oil and castor oil.

3. A penetrating oil comprising a mixture of 77% to 99.75% by weight ofdextrolimonene and 0.25 to 23% of parafiin.

4. A penetrating oil comprising a mixture of 75% to 99.75% by weight ofdextrolimonene and 0.25% to 25% of a liquid petroleum oil.

5. A penetrating oil comprising a mixture of 85% to 99.75% by weight ofdextrolimonene and 0.25% to 15% of castor oil.

6. A penetrating oil as in claim 4 in which said liquid petroleum oil is#30 SAE.

HENRY E. SCHULZ.

REFERENCES CITED Mattiello: Protective and Decorative Coatings,

. vol. I, John Wiley 8; Co., 1941, page 552.

Gregory: Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 3rd edition, Reinhold PublishingCompany, 1942, page 250.

Bennett: Chemical Formulary, vol. 1, 1933, D. Van Nostrand Company, page363.

